


The Story of Steven G. Rogers and Anthony E. Stark, As Told In One Hundred Documents

by Tailish



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Angst, Canon Compliant, Historical Accuracy, Historical References, M/M, Mixed Media, More tags to be added, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-10-02 23:16:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tailish/pseuds/Tailish
Summary: I will make no effort to introduce the reader to the subjects of this work. Either one already knows them, for they are even today spoken of, or one will soon enough. Nor will I attempt to detail the exact chronology of their lives, or of the events that occurred during them. Plenty of such works exist, and it will do no good for me to add another one. Instead, I have collected one hundred documents, both public and private, in an attempt to represent not only their story, but also how the times in which they lived affected them. Graciously, the New Avengers Initiative lent some of the more classified historical sources from their archives, including several never made public before. Furthermore, Steve Rogers, upon learning of my work, provided and permitted for some private materials to be displayed here. I hope that the work will prove informative and entertaining not only to the historical specialist, but also to the lay reader wishing to learn more about these two remarkable men.Dedicated to all the unsung heroes.





	1. Sept. 5, 1945

**A Fallen Hero; speech by Commander Eisenhower**

_September 5th, 1945_

Yesterday, the nation celebrated as the bombing of Nagasaki brought about what has so long been desired: peace. Today, we mourn as the true cost becomes clear. There are no figures from the fronts yet as to the number of dead, but speculation can only be placed in the millions. Amongst all those heroes that gave their life to defend freedom and democracy, we honour one in particular. Captain Steven G. “America” Rogers was revealed today to have been killed in action on March 4th 1945, while stopping a German bomber from reaching New York.

Captain America was at first a stage performer who raised enthusiasm for war bonds. He was then sent to the Italian front to raise the morale of the troops, but Rogers was meant for more than wooden guns and paper shields. On November 3rd 1943, he coordinated and lead a rescue mission to free over 300 Allied POW’s from a German internment camp, amongst them his childhood best friend, James Barnes. His spectacular success lead to him being placed in charge of a group of special forces, the “Howling Commandos,” which enjoyed some of the highest allied mission success raids. Rogers, called a tactical mastermind by his superiors, carried out over a hundred raids on German bases and outposts. His bravery, well-known amongst the men at the front, manifested itself when he boarded a German airplane headed for the continental USA. To save millions at home, he made the ultimate sacrifice and brought the plane down over the arctic ocean. 

Captain Rogers has no surviving family. A public ceremony will be held October 1st. 

There will be no questions. Thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So. This fic is essentially an attempt to rewrite MCU canon up to the end of phase 3 from the point of view of a historian looking back. It'll contain some mixed media images especially once we get to modern times, so I don't recommend viewing this on mobile data.  
> Updates will be as often as I can manage them; hopefully, at least once every two weeks.  
> Comments are _highly_ appreciated, especially as I'll be trying to write with a different voice each chapter. I'd love to know what you guys thing!


	2. August 4 1947

**Digitalization of the initial sketch for the front cover of the first posthumous Captain America comic**

_August 3rd, 1947_

 


	3. March 3rd, 1962

**Stark Industries IPO below expectations; The Financial Times**

_March 3rd 1962_

__

Howard Stark yesterday celebrated both his marriage to Maria Carbonell, and the initial public offering of his company, Stark Industries (SI), on the New York Stock Exchange. SI has quickly built a global reputation for building weaponry for the US military and other defence contractors. The IPO was expected to raise $25 per share. However, at the end of the day shares were trading at closer to $20, indicating investors doubt the long-term durability of SI. In a statement, business partner Obadiah Stane stated that the company needed time to “settle into its full potential.” Stark retains the majority of shares and as such full executive power. SI is a major US defence contractor and has so far made a profit every year since its establishment in 1956. Stark, who has long standing ties with the US military since WWII, was seen by our analysts to be in an ideal position to enter the weapons market. It remains to be seen how well he will fare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find a date for the marriage between Howard and Maria, only that it lies between 1954 and 1974, nor anything on when and how SI entered the stock market. We know from the Iron Man movies that there are shareholders, but nothing else. 
> 
> The image credits belong to The Blade, found here:  
> [link!](https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2003/02/09/A-fraud-ahead-of-its-time/stories/200302090046) 


	4. May 29th, 1970

**Births; The New York Times**  
 _May 29th 1970,_  
STARK - Howard Anthony Walter and Maria Collins Carbonell are proud to announce the birth of their son, Anthony Edward Stark. Anthony was born on May 29th weighing 7 pounds and measuring 18 inches. Visitors are asked to call ahead.


	5. April 3rd, 1971

**CAP A MUTANT??; The Globe**

_April 3rd, 1971_

The times they are a-changing, and so is our history, folks! Leaks from inside the DoD concerning Captain America, representative of all that is good and just in our country (don’t laugh yet) seem to imply that the good Captain wasn’t fully human! We spoke to a source who’d seen the documents and understandably wishes to remain anonymous. He said that there was talk of a project by which Steve Rogers, previously a 5’7 asthmatic, would be turned into the giant bunch of muscles we all know and love. Scientists, amongst which was at least one German, turned Rogers into something that all eyewitness testimonies agrees went ‘far beyond human!’ Rogers supposedly could run faster, jump farther, and climb higher than any mortal man after the procedure that turned him into something else entirely. Although old propaganda films show that Rogers looks like a normal, if good-looking guy, we can’t be sure what was hidden away beneath that cowl and those tights. In hindsight, it seems typical that America’s number one soldier wasn’t as spick-and-span as we’d all like to think.


	6. April 5th, 1971

**Press Release: Captain Steven "America" Rogers, KIA 1945; Department of Defence, US Governmen** **t**

  
_April 5th, 1971_

  
Wars are won by having the best men on the front. Steven Grant Rogers was one such man. Brave, loyal, and patriotic, Rogers was everything that could be hoped for in a soldier. However, where the spirit was willing, the body was not. Rogers suffered from a variety of ailments since childhood, including asthma, weak blood pressure, and flat feet. This made him inapplicable for service in the military. Eager to serve anyway, he accepted the opportunity to participate in a classified military project aimed at healing soldiers injured in wartime. Rogers was seen as an ideal candidate not because of his physical disabilities, but because of his strength of spirit and conviction. Project Rebirth, lead by Jewish refugee Abraham Erskine, worked better than anyone had dared to hope for, not only eliminating Rogers’ health problems, but also bringing him to the peak of physical fitness. Unfortunately, a Nazi saboteur destroyed the equipment used on Rogers and murdered Erskine before another operation could be done. While he settled into his new state, Rogers agreed to tour the USA to sell war bonds, which allowed citizens to play a crucial part in driving the machine that defeated Hitler. After he was declared fit for duty, Rogers shipped out to the European Theatre. The rest of his story is known.

  
The DoD and involved organisations classified Rogers’ transformation to the highest levels possible because it could not be repeated, and represented a major technological advantage against our enemies. We are still, and will forever be, indebted to men like Rogers who gave their lives so that we may live in peace today.


	7. May 5th, 1971

**Wear the flag, tear the flag; The Wall Street Journal**

_May 5th, 1971_

It will soon be twenty-six years since World War II ended in the European theatre, but its legacy is still felt today. Our nation ended the War as a major superpower, and has managed to hold on to this reputation for over a quarter of a century. However, over the past month, peaceful protests against the current war in Indochina and Vietnam have shocked the White House and divided the country. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) as well as several civilian organisations have enacted mass protests against US atrocities on the other side of the Pacific, decrying what they see as an unnecessary and imperialistic war. Amongst all the turmoil come leaks from the Department of Defence that one of America’s most lauded soldiers, Captain Steven “America” Rogers, was a result of human experimentation. America’s reputation as the world’s bastion of freedom and democracy is at risk. 

First, the protests. Increasing evidence and testimony has long convinced not only the doves in the USA, but also foreign nations, that not all is what it seems in Asia. The USA has been involved in Vietnam, and later also in other places, since 1955, making this war the longest foreign deployment in US history. One has to wonder what we are really fighting - and people do wonder. Last Sunday saw an estimate of over 30,000 people congregate in the capital to protest against this seemingly endless war. Last month, the VVAW organised several veteran’s and Gold-Star mother’s protests that involved laying down their medals before the Capitol. Abroad, it is not much different. France has never agreed with the USA’s involvement in Vietnam, and where Germany was previously studiously indifferent, dependent as it is on US military support, even there the eyebrows are now climbing. 

And on top of this comes the Captain America scandal. Captain America has been a propaganda tool and symbol of the US armed forces, first introduced in World War II to drive war bond sales for a government sorely in need of cash. The man posing as Captain America, Steven Rogers, has largely been neglected in favour of his other, more heroic, identity. With the revelation that Captain America is actually a result of human experimentation, however, the “perfect soldier” is in need of an image boost. Sources from inside the DoD claim that Rogers, previously severely ill and unable to enlist, was turned into something superhuman by a top-secret procedure. The DoD’s press release from April 5th therefore brought Steven Rogers back into the picture, extolling his virtues and making the man sound like a living embodiment of the character he portrays. The press release confirms that Rogers underwent a procedure, but claims that the aim of this experiment was to “heal soldiers injured in wartime.” Strange, then, that Captain America was not simply healed, but received the physique of a perfect soldier - if not the spirit of one.

Gabriel Jones, a member of Captain Roger’s strike team the Howling Commandoes, claims that much of the propaganda surrounding Captain America’s character is, to put it mildly, incorrect. “It’s bullshit,” he states in an interview with this newspaper. “Look, the first time I met Cap, he was breakin’ us all outta the Kraut’s prison, where he’d gone in on his own and against the orders of Colonel Phillips. We get back, the man spends three hours in the command tent being yelled at and doin’ a fair bit of yelling, too. He was sure as hell brave, but I don’t know about the whole perfect soldier thing.” Jones worked with Rogers for just under two years, and followed him all around Europe. “We were a close unit,” he says of the Howling Commandoes. “Sure, Cap was the leader, and Barnes his sarge. But you could tell that they were also just two guys, you know. They made dirty jokes. Cap cheated like hell at cards. That kind of stuff.” 

When asked if he knew something about the experiments performed on Captain Rogers, Jones smiles. “I never knew him before. We met in Azzano, so I just assumed he always looked like that. It was only when I saw it in the papers that I figured he’d been smaller once, ‘cause its definitely the same guy in the pictures. But,” he leans forwards, confiding, “we did wonder sometimes. He tried to hide it, but the man didn’t sleep much. He was always fine in the morning, but sometimes you’d wake up in the middle of the night needin’ a visit to the bushes, and he’d just be sitting in front of the fire, still awake. And you know the shield?” He is referring to the Captain’s iconic round red-white-blue shield, with which he is almost always portrayed. “You’d figure it’s just a propaganda gimmick, but he actually used it in battle. Cap could throw it around like a discus, knocking down guys left and right. It wasn’t that heavy, but I’ve never seen anyone else throw a shield with that much power and accuracy. It made us wonder, you know. But never enough to ask.” 

Rogers, and his close friend and sergeant James Barnes, were the only two casualties the Howling Commandoes suffered during the war. For his sacrifice, Rogers has received multiple of the highest military honours available. But the reveal that Rogers was, if anything, a modified “super soldier” rather than a very talented normal man, has caused backlash amongst the veteran community. Derrick Tohmas, an organiser with the VVAW, asks “why should we pretend that any soldier can be like Captain America if it turns out they experimented on him? We’re all just normal guys. It’s not right to pretend to soldiers that you’re gonna do that, ‘cause in the end you’ll get shipped off to Asia and get blown up by a mine. It’s nothing like the fantasy land of Captain America.” 

The double whammy of both the protests and the leaks has placed Nixon’s administration under heavy criticism. With elections coming up next year, it is critical that the administration regain some of the credibility Nixon gained with the Apollo 11 lunar landing - else the Republicans may find the more dovish Democrats in charge next term. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 7 Jan: correction of a spelling error. Also, to clarify: I made Derrick Tohmas up. To my knowledge, he doesn't exist. He's representative of the actual members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who, like the name implies, were veterans protesting against protracted US military action in South-East Asia.


	8. October 24th, 1997

**STARK NAKED; The Globe**

 

_October 24th, 1997_

LONDON - Everyone’s favorite inventor and businessman was seen last night partying it up in London. Stark, spotted near the ME London, clearly had something to celebrate. SI is making him one of the richest people in the world. Although his net worth is undisclosed, it’s estimated to be in the billions at this point. He was in London to receive the prize Clifford Patterson Medal and Prize, which he won because of his work in energy physics. However, it seems like Stark swapped out one prize for another! We’re not sure who these lovely ladies are, but we bet that Stark would want to study their energy all right - enthusiastically, from the way Stark is pretty much undressed. Obadiah Stane, who runs SI for Stark, reportedly doesn’t much care that his wunderkind likes drinking better than inventing - which he likes a whole lot. Stark was never arrested for possession of illegal substances, but the playboy is known for liking his fun. When our reporters asked him the morning after about the events the night before, Stark stated that he liked his social time the way he likes his science: “involving hazardous substances and preferably naked.”

Congratulations, Mr. Stark!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, it looks like there'll be a regular updating schedule of once a week on Wednesday. I'm planning on going back after everything is posted to do edits and add more media, because right now is kind of busy for me.


	9. April 23rd, 2010

**"The worst irony" obituary by The Economist**

_April 23rd, 2010_

. . . . . . . . . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update comes a day early because I'm gone tomorrow.  
> I'm aware that the image is from Iron Man 2, which happens after this, but I couldn't find a suitable one with the right dimensions from Iron Man 1 or beforehand.  
> I am not affiliated with The Economist in any way. The layout, branding, etc. belong to their owners.
> 
> As a side note: I had a great, by which I mean horrible, time finding the right fonts for this, especially since the 2010 layout is different from the one they have right now. I tried to imitate the layout and style of writing as best as I could, but there's a fair chance there's more than one word spelled the wrong way.
> 
> EDIT: I forgot the formatting. My bad.


	10. April 26th, 2010

**CNN News Broadcast transcript**

_April 26th, 2010_

MILYA STEVANOVICH: …food crisis is worsening. Red Cross is pushing for citizen’s support by way of a donation drive to reach-

(JINGLE. _We interrupt this report to give you a special announcement._ )

JONATHAN HASHE: We have just learnt that Anthony Stark, who went missing in Afghanistan over three months ago, has turned up alive. An image posted on Facebook by Virginia Potts, Stark’s PA, showed him alive and well in the back of a military transport. We have no information yet as to how Stark survived his alleged kidnapping, especially since a video from a few weeks bad showed him in a significantly worse state. But it is definitely him, if a bit banged up and apparently malnourished. And - an army press representative has just informed us that Stark will be transported to Landstuhl on the earliest military transport. He was kidnapped on the border of the Ghowr region of Afghanistan, and found by a patrol about thirty miles to the south in Farah. And he’s now being flown to Germany for urgent dehydration, malnourishment, and other physical injuries. We have no further information yet, but we’ll keep you up to date as news comes in. Again, this is nothing short of a miracle - embarrassingly enough, at least two newspapers had already published obituaries for Stark. Back to the studio.


	11. November 1st, 2010

**He is Iron Man; New York Review of Books**

_November 1st, 2010_

And so it goes. When Tony Stark, CEO of the former international weapons conglomerate Stark Industries, announced his identity as the mysterious vigilante, or, as he is now being called, “superhero” Iron Man, the world understandably went a bit crazy. Stark was kidnapped after a weapons showing in Afghanistan, and subsequently presumed dead. He reemerged after almost four months, with “Iron Man” in tow. After a public showdown with the “Iron Monger” at the SI campus in California, Stark announced that he is in fact Iron Man. But amongst all the speculation about Stark’s time in Afghanistan and further personal life, the question most thinkers and historians are asking is: where’s the war?

Super-heroism is neither new nor limited to America. The most famous person we tend to think of as a ‘superhero’ is Captain America, the propaganda figure turned war hero who, as was revealed in a groundbreaking series of government leaks, was also the subject of a government experiment on creating superhumans. He is considered the first modern superhero because of these two characteristics. He is a hero because he, amongst other various feats, single-handedly rescued over 300 allied soldiers from a German interment camp, and crashed a bomber carrying dangerous material to prevent an attack on Manhattan. He is “super” because, although he began life as a (somewhat sickly) baseline human, and was (as far as we know) not a bearer of the X-gene found in mutants like Charles Xavier, a famous scholar and mutant advocate, after Project Rebirth he had baseline strength at least two and a half times that of a standard human, as well as enhanced endurance. Since Captain America, there have been few such figures, mostly because the science required to create him has been lost to history. What was thought to be an attempt to recreate the super-soldier serum, as the procedure is known, resulted in the destruction of a significant part of Culver University’s Science Campus by a rampaging green beast known only as “Hulk” in 2005.

More than a product of science, however, Captain America was a product of his time - both literally and metaphorically. World War 2 required new innovations in military technology, especially if these innovations could either prevent casualties or grant an advantage to allied soldiers - as the super-serum would have. Beyond that, the public image of Captain America was shaped by the propaganda performances required to sell war bonds and raise civilian morale for the war effort. After all, if there is no war, what is the use of a soldier?

This brings us back to Tony Stark, who has declared himself Iron Man. By itself, this is not remarkable, although excited chatter from my more scientifically-minded colleagues tells me that Iron Man’s flight capabilities are extraordinary. What is puzzling is the attempt, and subsequent failure, to categorise Tony Stark and Iron Man. He is not a mutant, as far as we know, and Iron Man does not appear to require or use special mutant capabilities, unless they are those of flight. Neither does Stark appear to have been enhanced somehow. He is not superhuman, except if one considers genius a superhuman trait. So far, these are the only two words we have (and have needed) to describe people who can do things normal people cannot.

The fact that we cannot categorise Stark at first appears to be something of a trivial aspect. After all, one would say, a thing is not changed by its label. It does not matter whether we consider Stark a mutant or a superhero, especially since the man himself would probably resist either classification. This would, however, be grossly underestimating both the symbolic and physical impact of people like Stark and their counterparts like Iron Man. The symbolic impact is obvious - if Stark is a superhero, this gives him a certain authority, as well as an implied mandate for physical action. Captain America acted on a mandate given to him by Command, which in turn had a mandate to give orders because the USA had declared war on Nazi Germany. Although the US is embroiled in several conflicts abroad, including that in Afghanistan where Iron Man was allegedly first created, Stark carries no such mandate. This would not change even if it were revealed that Stark carries the X-gene. Mutants, after long decades fraught with tension, are now required to be taught and schooled in their powers, and cannot carry out violent actions without belonging to an officially recognised group - of which there exists only one, the X-Men, who are mostly concerned with policing their own kind.

The question now becomes clear: where’s the war that’s given Stark his mandate? Of Stark is neither a superhero, due to the lack of war, nor a mutant, due to his lack of an X-gene, he lacks a mandate for action. Iron Man has been spotted at the site of several violent altercations both in the Middle East and in the US, but is not restrained by either national or international law, and can thus act with impunity. At this point in time, the obvious classification of Iron Man is a vigilante. Vigilantism, the diligent reader will recall, is illegal, and for good reason. Citizens taking the law into their own hands without the expertise of our first responders and legal officials are sure to undermine, rather than strengthen, the rule of law. Essentially, Iron Man is either an open invitation for any idiot with a spandex suit to take “justice” into his own hands, or an admission that those with money and power can do as they please.

There are no examples that I can draw on here to illustrate just how devastating the consequences of this would be. With the exception of the troubles with mutants in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the consequences of which have been resolved and legalised, our country has a strong history of resting on it’s democratic foundation and allowing the law to mete out justice in due course. In order for this to work as it has, we hold faith that the legal system is fair, both in the sense of equal punishment for equal crime, and in that of punishment in proportion to the crime. Justice, the personification of the law, is always portrayed with a blindfold because the law must apply equally to all men and women - this is one of the founding principles of our modern society, that everyone is created equal. While we may not live in a post-racial society, as some would like it to be, the guarantee that the law, at least, sees only your actions is a powerful thing. Vigilantism, enacted by individuals, and not the legal system, automatically voids this blindness principle. An individual, even if they were truly “good” and “heroic,” is inevitably biased. Even leaving aside the moral issue and focusing only on practicalities, a vigilante cannot enforce equal punishment as the State, with greater resources and reach, can.

The issue of proportionality is another one altogether. Our idea of vigilantism is based largely on literature, as it rarely occurs on a significant scale outside of fiction. In fiction, vigilantes are violent, but they are not killers. Out of the good of their hearts (or convenient alliances, or tragic pasts) they do not kill. However, fictional vigilantes are, without exception, violent in their attempt to remove injustices and “villains” from the world. Violence, as the modern film-going audience has become used to it, is sanitized, bloodless - with the obvious exception of horror-style crime movies like Pulp Fiction and the works of directors like David Cronenberg. It does not really bother us that violent justice has become a normative representation of justice, because we are so used to violence being a thing without real consequence. This is one of the reasons fictional vigilantes do not kill, as killing is an act with a definite consequence in the movie world. That being said, our real world is not like the movies. Even what we might be tempted to consider low-level violence has real and permanent consequences, and only inspires others to seek violent solutions to problems. This is the reason our justice system is not violent. Vigilantism thus undermines both justice and peace by perpetuating violence.

If democracy sometimes seems slow and ambling, that is because it is weighted down with responsibility; if it sometimes seems callous and uncaring to the individual, that is because it watches out over society as a whole. It is vital to our nation that we preserve the institutions that uphold it. Nobody, not even Iron Man, should be able to avoid the law. Dura lex, sed lex.

M. Brian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was _terrible_. If the X-Men referenced in here make no sense timeline-wise, that is because I have given up. 
> 
> The name of the author is a nod to my high-school history teacher, the single most awesome teacher I have ever had.


	12. April 2nd, 2011

** ROPI0611402b; SHIELD report **

 

_ April 2nd, 2011_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On screen, all SHIELD tech that we see is super modern and streamlined. However, it's my headcanon that due to a decrease in federal defence funding and an increase in spending on those goddamn helicarriers a database update never quite got around to being approved.  
> To my knowledge, gravitational field strength satellites are not yet so good that they could measure a mass that small, but what with all the cool stuff in the MCU I hope it approaches plausible. 80,000kg is, according to Google, the max take-off mass of an average Boeing 737; the Valkyrie was probably not that heavy, but it shouldn’t have been able to exist in the first place, so. *waves hands* 
> 
> EDIT: Woah - I uploaded the wrong file and messed up the continuity. Things are now as they should be. Sorry!


	13. April 3rd, 2011

Encryption check: success

* * *

 

Received 06:23:18 04/03/2012

To: [p.coulson@shield.gov](mailto:p.coulson@shield.gov)

From: [n.fury@shield.gov](mailto:n.fury@shield.gov)

Subject: Ice Man

* * *

 

Cheese,

I’ve got a project you’ll like. Stop by my office later today.

M

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update that is on time! and also not formatted as I am inherently lazy. editing's going to be a bitch.


	14. June 2nd, 2011

**RA0511327a; SHIELD report**

_June 2nd, 2011_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two chapters this week because there were none last week, so head on over to check out the next one!


	15. May 5th, 2012

**Chitauri Incident; SHIELD press release**

_May 5th, 2012_

On May 31st 2011 the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division became aware of the presence of a sentient species other than our own as Thor Odinson was discovered in New Mexico. Odinson called himself an Asgardian originating from Asgard. According to him, Asgard and Earth make up two out of nine connected worlds, although there are said to be more habitable worlds unreachable due to the vastness of space. Initial contact with the first known Asgardians was peaceful. 

Yesterday, May 4th, an antagonistic Asgardian named Loki Laufeyson, who escaped from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistic Division’s custody using what can only be described as magic, established a portal to outer space on the roof of Stark Tower. He then lead the Chitauri, a subservient race, in an attack on Earth. The Chitauri were repelled by the brave efforts of the US Army, the New York police force, and six individuals, including Odinson, assembled under the collective name “Avengers”. The Avengers managed to close the portal just after diverting a missile headed for Manhattan into the waiting Chitauri forces on the other side. 

The origins of the missile are currently unclear. 

There are no living Chitauri remaining on Earth. Investigations into the precise location, abilities, physics, and nature of Asgard and the Chitauri are currently ongoing. 

The Treasury has put aside an extra three billion dollars to repair damage to both private and public infrastructure dealt during the invasion. Stark Industries has pledged funding for all businesses involved in repair work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters were posted today, so make sure you didn't miss out on #14.
> 
> I would also like to announce that, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have officially hit plot.


	16. May 7th, 2012

**Magazine article from The City Gazette**

_May 7th 2012_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image in this chapter was formatted to appear entirely within the screen of a small laptop. To better see the image, go [here](https://i.ibb.co/wRN0fmm/MAY72012-PGS17-18.jpg)  
> There are again two chapters this week, so make sure to check out the next one!


	17. May 8th, 2012

**Exerpt from a news announcement, with live interview, aired on CNN concerning Cpt. Rogers' deceased status**

_May 8th, 2012_

BRIDGET: … been surrounded by speculation, it is now being said that the man who fought against the Chitauri in New York is in fact the original Captain America. According to the government organisation SHIELD, which has only recently stepped into the open, Captain Rogers was cryogenically frozen in ice after crashing a German bomber into the arctic ocean. He slept for seventy years, before a team of scientists found him and defrosted him. Our reporter Milya Stevanovich is in New York. Milya, hello. 

MILYA: Hello.

BRIDGET: How certain are we that this is in fact the original Captain, and not just a modern impostor? 

MILYA: - Well, here’s what we know. This Captain America is definitely enhanced, just as the original one almost certainly was. Eyewitnesses say that they saw him fighting with superhuman speed and lifting concrete blocks that a normal person definitely couldn’t pick up. He also has the right height and build to be the original - here are two photos of the men, and as you can see there’s definitely a similarity. However, there is no known instance of cryogenic freezing being successfully performed on a person, much less in natural circumstances without equipment. The likelihood-

BRIDGET: Sorry Milya, I’ve been informed that we’ve just managed to get in contact with the modern man. We’re switching over to a live feed from Stark Tower now. 

JONATHAN: I’m standing here in front of Stark Tower with the Captain America from New York and his teammate, Tony Stark. Mr, uhm. Captain, what is your name?

ROGERS: Steven Grant Rogers, sir. 

JONATHAN: Steve Grant Rogers. Like Captain America.

ROGERS: Yes, sir.

STARK: Isn’t he adorable with all the sirs? C’mon, I know what question you’re dying to ask. Man up and ask it.

JONATHAN. Uhm. Mr. Rogers, this would imply that you’re the same Steve Rogers who fought in World War 2?

ROGERS: Yes, sir. 

JONATHAN: Wow. That is, unbelievable. Truly, that’s amazing. Can I ask how it is you’re here? 

ROGERS: Sure, sir.

[BEAT]

STARK: Rogers, stop fucking with the reporters, it isn’t cute. 

JONATHAN: Ah, right. How are you here?

ROGERS: I guess everyone knows about the plane thing now. I crashed, and when I woke up I was in a new Century. I’ve been told there was some very impressive science in between, but I wouldn’t know anything about that, sir. 

JONATHAN: Mr. Stark, are you one of the scientists who worked on defrosting, for lack of a better word, the Captain?

STARK: Hell no. I’m not a biologist, I don’t do squishy things. Besides, I’ve been a bit busy the past year. We didn’t meet until just before the whole Chitauri thing. 

JONATHAN: So Mr.- Captain, is Mr. Stark serving as your guide to the future? How are you finding it here so far?

ROGERS: It’s very shiny, sir. And it’s nice that there’s less poverty and sickness. Everything’s very clean. Although I’m disappointed that there are no flying cars. And Mr. Stark has been an excellent guide. 

STARK: Don’t lie, I’m a pain in your ass. And I’m not making you a flying car, they’re too inefficient. 

JONATHAN: Right. Well, there you have it. Captain America really is the first and only, I guess, Captain America. And he’s teaming up with Mr. Stark, Iron Man. Back to the studio. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were two chapters this week, so make sure you didn't miss 16.   
> Image editing and designing is... not something I'm great at, so especially as we get further into the modern age and visual media, chapter updates might take longer.

**Author's Note:**

> All characters, as well as images and licensed representations thereof, and other copy-righted material, belong to Marvel and the credited writers. They are used in this work under the Fair Use Act. 
> 
> All other original material is a product of my brain, unless otherwise stated.


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